Date of Award
12-2013
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Alan D. Poling
Second Advisor
Dr. Cynthia Pietras
Third Advisor
Dr. Amanda M. Mahoney
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Since 2007, giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) have been used successfullyfor detecting Tuberculosis (TB) positive patients.The rats are trained to detect TB-positive sputum samples through the use of operant conditioning techniques, in which an indicator response is rewarded with food. If the rats are to be used for first line screening of patients reinforcement could not be provided because the true status of the sample would be unknown. The present study evaluated the effects of a reinforcement-for-agreement procedure that could be used to reinforce indication responses when the true status of the sample is unknown. Four rats evaluated 100 sputum samples per session under two phases of the study: baseline and the reinforcement-for-agreement phase. During the reinforcement for agreement phase two rats evaluated samples under extinction and the remaining two rats evaluated the same samples and were rewarded only if they indicated on samples that both the first two rats made an indication response. Sensitivity and specificity rates did not greatly differ between the two conditions. These findings suggest that the reinforcement-for-agreement procedure may be a tenable option to use during first line screening or in areas in which other diagnostic methods are unavailable.
Recommended Citation
LaLonde, Katherine B., "Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Rat Agreement Based Reinforcement Procedure" (2013). Masters Theses. 439.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/439